Danube Cruise Blog #39: Linz, Austria: Kepler's Laws, World War 2 History

Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz art museum

 The next stop on our Viking River cruise was the Czech Republic, but in order to get there,we had to dock at Linz, Austria on the Danube River. Linz has quite an interesting history. It was Friday, May 24th when we docked in Linz and learned a lot about the city during the 90 minute bus ride to get to the beautiful little city of Český Krumlov. Today, we'll explore Linz, because there's a lot to know about its most famous resident and ties to World War 2! Read on! 

Cruise ships on the Danube

ABOUT LINZ- Linz was the most important Roman harbor settlement in 1 AD. The city was founded by the Romans, who called it Lentia.The name Linz was first recorded in AD 799. 
It became an industrial city and is the home of a steel plant today. There are 271,000 residents, and 100,000 more come into town to work each day.

Johannes Kepler

MOST FAMOUS RESIDENT- Astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler. He taught mathematics in the city for several years. He discovered, on 15 May 1618, the distance-cubed-over-time-squared — or 'third' — law of planetary motion. The local public university, Johannes Kepler University Linz, is named after him.

KEPLER'S LAWS - In astronomy, Kepler's laws of planetary motion are three scientific laws describing the motion of planets around the Sun. The orbit of a planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one of the two foci. A line segment joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.

HITLER WAS HERE TWICE- Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn (Austrian town near the German border) and moved to Linz during his childhood. Hitler spent most of his youth in the Linz area, from 1898 until 1907, when he left for Vienna. Hitler considered Linz to be his hometown, and envisioned extensive architectural schemes for it – including a massive new Fuhrermuseum to house his collection of looted art – wanting it to become the main cultural centre of the Third Reich, and to eclipse Vienna, a city he hated. In order to make the city economically vibrant, Hitler initiated a major industrialization of Linz shortly before, and during, the Second World War. The city was badly damaged during World War II

TODAY'S ATTRACTIONS - Baroque buildings, including Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) and the old cathedral or Alter Dom, ring Hauptplatz, the old town’s main square. The riverside Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz has a major modern art collection. Across the river, the striking Ars Electronica Center focuses on society, technology and life in the future.

FAST FACTS - In 2009 Linz, together with the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, was chosen as the European Capital of Culture. Since 1 December 2014 Linz is a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities (UCCN) network as a City of Media Arts.

NEXT: Arrival in Český Krumlov